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Google Voice update adds short code support, warns you when you text 911
An update to Google Voice today brings a useful, if not earth-shattering, new feature: support for SMS short codes. If your primary phone number is the one associated with your Google Voice account, this means you'll finally be able to use these codes for online banking and other services without your message showing up as sent from your carrier number. Today's update also adds a warning message whenever you type the 911 short code -- a handy safeguard, if you ask us. Nab the Android app update via the source link below.
Russian state-run liquor store to authenticate vodka with SMS
In a bid to cut down on knockoff vodka -- yeah, "Keepin't real fake, the drunk edition" -- a state-run liquor store in Russia named Rosspirtprom will verify if your booze is legit based on the bottle's serial number. All a conscientious drinker needs to do is text the number on the bottle to a special SMS short code and you'll be hit back with a reply to let you know if your drink of choice is legit or not. Apparently responsible for 40,000 deaths a year, dodgy vodka can be loaded with cologne, antifreeze, and even pure alcohol, and while we don't see the harm in the pure alcohol bit, we assume excessive use could lead to problems.[Via textually.org]
Denmark's GylleSMS, a new kind of early warning system
I expect you will all agree that nothing can dampen a morning jaunt or coffee on the terrace like the smell of freshly spread manure. We aren't talking about the mild pong from a few cows in a field, but rather a full-on liquified spray fest. Well the Danish have a new SMS service to allow farmers the ability to alert their neighbors before they get to work on the fields. Called GylleSMS -- that's "ManureSMS" for the English speakers out there -- the SMS contains all the gooey details about when and where there would be spreading near you. Also under consideration by the farmers is a voting system whereby people near a farm can just say, "No! No! The wind may blow!" [Via Textually.org]
"Asia-Pacific Mobile Alliance" to allow seamless roaming over seven countries
About one hundred million Asian mobile subscribers are about to experience a better roaming experience around the continent thanks to a new multi-carrier initiative to create a so-called "Virtual Home Environment." Seven wireless providers covering eight countries and regions -- NTT DoCoMo (Japan), FET (Taiwan), Hutchison Essar (India), Hutchison Telecommunications (Hong Kong and Macau), KTF (South Korea), Indostat (Indonesia), and StarHub (Singapore) -- have formed the "Asia-Pacific Mobile Alliance," as it's tentatively known, to eventually enable seamless voice, video, and data roaming across their networks. According to the joint press release, when the initiative goes live in the latter half of the year, GSM/GPRS and W-CDMA customers will also enjoy access to the basic services they've become accustomed to, such as caller ID and quick access to voicemail and home carrier tech support via short-code service.
